Education of girls has been a high priority with the Government of India as well as J&K State Govt.The National commitment to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the 6-14 years age group is now a Fundamental Right of every child in India after the passing of the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act in December, 2002.

Girls Education is one of the important components of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which deserves more attention in order to have complete coverage for all Girl children within the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ambit. Serious efforts have to be carried out for catering the need of the girl child so that their participation (enrolment), retention & learning enhancement increases.

Gender gap at upper primary level>20% is in 3 Districts (Kistwar 20.8%, Ramban 28.1% & Reasi 22.9%) While as the gender gap in primary level>10% is in 6 Districts (Jammu 10.5%,Kathua 12.3%,Kistwar 11.4%,Ramban 13.5% ,Reasi 12.3% & Samba 11.6%) in Jammu & Kashmir. To reduce gender gap in enrolment and to achieve parity between boys and girls enrolment, the provisioning of hostel facility(Residential KGBV Schools) to older age group girls 10-14 years, who have either never attended school or dropped out of school during the early years or likely to drop out, is the only successful strategy for the continuation of their education.

Among EBB districts the highest Gender gap is that of Doda which 37.34% is & lowest that of Pulwama district which is 22.57%.

Education of girls, especially those belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, OBC & minority is the primary focus in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Efforts are being made to mainstream gender concerns in all the activities under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme. Mobilization at the habitation/village/urban slum level, recruitment of teachers, up gradation of primary into upper primary schools, incentives like midday meals, scholarships, educational provision like textbooks and stationery, will all take into account the gender focus. Every activity under the programme will be judged in terms of its gender component.Female literacy scenario of J&K State:
The literacy rate of the State is 55 per cent, which is low to the national literacy rate 65.35 per cent. While the female literacy has considerably improved over the last decade, a great disparity persists in the literacy rates of males and females.

NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR EDUCATION OF GIRLS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL (NPEGEL)

NPEGEL is a National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level and has been conceived as an amendment to the scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for providing additional components for education of girls at elementary level. Prior to this SSA had limited financial provision for girls education in the form of innovations at the district level and free text books. So there was an urgent need of having an additional component. NPEGEL has been formulated for education of under privileged and disadvantaged girls from class 1st to 8th as a separate and distinct gender component. This scheme has been extended to all the educationally backward blocks of the country.

Educationally Backward Block means a block where the level of rural female literacy rate is less than the national average and the gender gap is above the national average. This includes 104 blocks in the 12 districts of Jammu & Kashmir.

NPEGEL has two broad objectives: -

To develop and promote facilities to provide access and to facilitate the retention of girls and to ensure greater participation of girls in the field of education.

To improve the quality of education through various interventions and to stress upon the relevance and quality of girls education for their empowerment

The focus of NPEGEL is as follows:

to strengthen the capacity of national, state and district institutions an organizations for planning, management and evaluation of girls education at the elementary level, and create a dynamic management structure that will be able to respond to the challenges of girls education.

To develop innovative gender sensitization / training programmes, with the assistance of concerned organizations and women’s groups, for teachers and administrators and create an environment whereby all the sections of the education will become alive and sensitive to the role of education in elementary education in eliminating gender disparities

To initiate networking between different institutions for research, extension and information dissemination to increase output of gender sensitive, quality teaching-learning material especially in regional languages, and decentralized area-specific models of intervention.

To gear the entire education system to play a positive interventionist role to enhance self-esteem and self-confidence of women and girls; build a positive image of women by recognizing their contribution to the society, polity and economy.

To break gender stereotypes, ensuring that the content and process of education is sensitive to gender concerns

To provide coordinated efforts, to ensure necessary support services to enhance girls participation and performance in elementary education.

to build community support for girls education and provide a conducive environment for girls education in the school, community and home, and

To ensure that girls get good quality education at the elementary level